15-16 Lessons and Meetings

Table of Contents

Meetings

Lessons

Meetings

Online Writing Resources for K-2

Resource	Main Use	Who's It For?
Padlet https://padlet.com/ Space	Padlet is a great and simple tool for online writing. It works like a digital corkboard. Post a message with questions, pictures, links, or videos. Others on your Padlet can double-click the background to add another text box. Refresh the page to see new posts by others. Works best in Firefox and Chrome. Also works on iPads. No account it necessary to use it. Teachers may want an account so they can control, edit, and return to the Padlets they use. Works on both computers and iPads. Computers must use Firefox or Chrome browser. Safari does not work well.	Kindergarten and up.
NearPod https://nearpod.com/ Space	NearPod takes passive PowerPoints and turns them into interactive classroom tools. Students can interact and write on their teacher's PowerPoint in NearPod and their answers are stored for later teacher review. Embed short answer questions into the NearPod. Have students highlight, circle, draw, and add text labels to the pages. Have students take an embedded quiz and it is scored in real time to give students immediate feedback. Upload your own or search through a library of available NearPod lessons. Teacher account is required, but students only need a NearPod code to join that session. Works on computer and through an iPad app. The free version must be done live. Homework mode is a paid extra.	1st grade and up
SeeSaw http://web.seesaw.me/ Space	SeeSaw is a web-based writing and publishing tool. Teachers create an account. Students can get in with either a 5-letter text code or use their devices' cameras using a QR code. Once in, teachers can create assignments for their students as text messages, links to websites, photos, videos, drawings, or even a few kinds of files. After the "Copy & Edit" feature is turned on, students can copy the work and make it their own. All finished work must be approved by the teacher before others can see it. Additionally, the teacher has the ability to share the students work with parents and the rest of the world by posting selected work to that class's accompanying blog. Students can sign in as themselves with their Google account, as well. Works on both computers and iPads. Computers must use Firefox or Chrome browsers. It will not even sign in on Safari.	1st Grade and up

Typing Resources for K-2
The resources below are organized into 1 of 3 categories - Emergent Typing, Typing Instruction, and Typing Speed Drill Games.

• Emergent Typing - Great for PreK-K; Focuses on 1 letter at a time only; Best for kids learning alphabet
• Typing Instruction - Late K and up; Mixes letters into patterns to learn the keyboard in section/groups
• Typing Speed Drill Games - Best to follow instruction; Now that they know the key, time to get faster

	Resource	Main Use	Who's it For?
	Animal Who Gameshttp://www.tvokids.com/games/animalwho	On this site, students can type a letter from their keyboard and see and hear an animal whose name starts with that letter. No score or progress is kept. There is no sign-in required.	PreK to Kindergarten students This is for students who are learning letters of the alphabet. They can learn the positions of the letters on the keyboard
	Literacy Center Typing http://literacycenter.net/play_learn/letters_en/typing_en_uc.php	Students have 3 different activities - all capital letters, all lowercase, and numbers 0-9. On all 3 activities, they type the keyboard keys and then hear the name of the letter/number name while it jumps up on the screen. No score or progress is kept. There is no sign-in required.	PreK to Kindergarten students This links the alphabet and its order to the keyboard and its layout.
	Keyboard Zoo http://www.abcya.com/keyboarding_practice.htm	Keyboard Zoo is a site that begins typing instruction beyond typing one single letter. It is focused on typing a series of the same letter. As the letters are typed, the student hears either the letter's name or its sound. When they are done, the kids are rewarded with a new animal picture and sound. Children will need teacher help to understand that the blue keys on the screen are for their left hand while the pink keys are for their right. No sign on is required, but it does not track progress.	PreK to Kindergarten students This is an early elementary friendly keyboarding practice tool.
	Keyboard Zoo 2 http://www.abcya.com/keyboarding_practice_2.htm	This follow-up to the original Keyboard Zoo allows for typing of capitals, lowercase, punctuation marks, and short sentences where the 1st version was only individual letters regardless of case. No sign on is required, but it does not track progress.	PreK, Kindergarten, and 1st grade
	Keyboard Game from BigBrownBear http://www.bigbrownbear.co.uk/keyboard/index.htm	This is a 30-second typing test/game. They type the red key, which is also shown at the bottom. If they do it correctly, their score goes up. If not, it goes down. At the end, there is a link to the next typing resource. No sign on is required, but it does not track progress.	Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th
	Learn to Type from BigBrownBear http://bigbrownbear.co.uk/learntotype/	Simple keyboard practice with combinations of multiple keys. A speed and accuracy score is kept. There are 14 different levels. Each focuses on a different set of letters. No sign on is required, but it does not track progress.	Late Kindergarten to 5th grade
	Dance Mat Typing http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr	This website has 4 levels for practice and learning to type. Each has 3 sets of keys to learn. The animated characters help teach the typing by modeling how to user your fingers. No sign on is required, but it does not track progress.	1st grade to 5th grade
	Typing.com https://www.typing.com/student	Typing.com is a free online typing practice/instruction program. Teachers can make an account and create logins for their students. Progress can be tracked. Speed practice games are available within the site. Signing into an account is optional. Practice can be done without an account.	3rd grade and up
	Typing Rocket - Speed Drill Game http://www.abcya.com/typing_rocket.htm	Students type the individual letters on the rockets as they fly from the bottom to the top of the screen to have ignite fireworks. No sign on is required, but it does not track progress.	1st grade and up
	Letter Bubbles - Speed Drill Game https://www.letterbubbles.com/	Students type the bubbles that float from right to left. Additional game elements like explosive letter bubbles that pop nearby bubbles and a floating spacebar line that pops all bubbles to the left keep it engaging. Bubbles that make it to the other side cost the player 1 of his 3 lives. Sign on is optional. No account is required to play.	1st grade and up. Additional directions are in text and may be easier for 3rd grade and up to read.
	Typing Adventure - Speed Drill Game http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/keyboarding_games/keyboarding_games_typing_adventure1.html	Typing Adventure is another speed drill and practice game. Type the next tiles letter to move forward. Type the wrong one and get zapped by lightning. No sign on is required, but it does not track progress. *Below this typing game are many more typing games.	1st grade and up

2-2-16 - Oakland - New Teacher - Reading and Math Apps

Resource	Main Use	Who's It For?
OurDocuments.gov	Primary source historical documents from the U.S. National Archives.	This works for 3rd grade and up with a special focus on those need primary source texts and images.
https://www.pebblego.com https://www.pebblego.com	Informational text source for K-2 that has both the ability to be read by the computer and track text through highlighting as it is read. There are activities and question pages that can be printed to use with the students for nearly all articles in PebbleGo.	This is a great resource for kindergarten through 2nd grade students.
	This provides word problems, virtual blocks to model solutions, and feedback for solutions for various types of addition and subtraction in lower elementary. The upper range of the values can be set to either 10 or 20. Models include... Part Whole Model - 2 Parts Part Whole Model - 3 Parts Comparison Model - 1 Step Comparison Model - 2 Steps Change Model - 2 Steps Random	This aligns to kindergarten and 1st grade standards, but does not read to the students.
	This provides word problems, virtual blocks to model solutions, and feedback for solutions for various types of addition and subtraction. The upper range for the values can be set to either 50 or 300. Models include... Part-Whole Model - 2 Parts Part-Whole Model - 3 Parts Change Model - 2 Steps Comparison Model - 1 Step Comparison Model - 2 Steps Comparison Model - 3 Quantities Random	This aligns with the standards for 1st through 3rd grade students. This gives feedback during as well as after solving the problems. This does not read to the students so the students must be able to read the word problems if they are working independently. Download the free app from iTunes for iPad.
	This provides word problems, virtual blocks to model solutions, and feedback for solutions for various types of multiplication and division. Models include... Find the Missing Product Find the Missing Divisor or Quotient Compare Quantities - One Step Model Compare Quantities - Two Step Model More than One Operation Compare 3 Quantities Random	This would work for students in 3rd Grade and up. Download the free app from iTunes for iPad.
	This provides word problems, virtual blocks to model solutions, and feedback for solutions for fractions across addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Models include... Find a Fraction of a Number Find the Total or Part Add Fractions with Like Denominators Add Fractions with Unlike Denominators Multiply and Divide Fractions Work with a Fraction of a Remainder Random	This would work for students in 4th Grade and up. Download the free app from iTunes for iPad.
Educreations	This digital whiteboard app comes with tools, but no content of its own. Take photos with the iPad's camera to add to your page. Search your own device's photos or search in student-friendly image search to add to your board. Annotate with text boxes and multiple pen colors. Record your work with voiceover and save. (Requires a free teacher account to save more than one on device.) Only works iPad or through the web account at https://www.educreations.com/lesson/studio/	This is appropriate for ALL grades and subject areas.
	Math virtual manipulatives available for multiple grade levels. http://www.visnos.com/demos It works on both computers and tablets. Virtual Manipulatives include... Starter Calculate: Percent, Fraction, or Decimal Spinner Sieve of Eratosthenes for Prime and Composite Numbers Percentage, Fraction, and Decimal Grid Fractions Wall (Equivalence tiles) Time, Angles, & Fractions with Virtual Clock Fish Times Tables Basic Angles (Virtual Protractor) Polygon Explorer (GeoBoard) Random Spinners for Probability Addition and Subtraction Facts Classroom Timer Number Explorer Two Clocks (for Elapsed Time) Explore Pi Fractal Explorer Counting with Fish	This has virtual math manipulatives for kindergarten and up.
	Turn passive PowerPoint presentations into interactive learning experiences where students can view slides, annotate pages, answer short answer and multiple choice questions, and interact with your class's content like never before.	This works well with 1st Grade and up. No sign-in required for students. They will use a 5 or 6-digit code for all students to connect to your NearPod.
	Online encyclopedia with pictures, movies, audio clips, and For the state of TN, all students have free access to WorldBook online resources.	This is great for 1st through 3rd Grade, but some topics may work well for 4th and 5th grade content, but with shorter articles that have less detail.

1-4-16 - Barksdale - Staff Development - Edulastic Basics
11-19-15 - Norman Smith Grades 3-5 - Edulastic Basics


EmpowerStudents Wiki information - http://empowerstudents.wikispaces.com/Edulastic


Edulastic One-Pager with "How-To" Links to Each Question Type
Edulastic One-Pager

• CleanPrint

CleanPrint allows teachers and students to use text from the internet in a new way. No longer are you stuck printing or saving a whole webpage with lots of unwanted text or ads. CleanPrint makes it possible to select the words you want to use for printing or saving and remove those you don't.

• Adding it to your browser
  1. Go to http://www.formatdynamics.com/bookmarklets/.
  2. Click on the link to "Get CleanPrint for (Your Browser).
  3. Install it to the browser. It can be used with Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or iPad.
• Selecting the Text
  • http://www.youtube.com/embed/KQ1haEZKtqg?autoplay=1&modestbranding=1&hd=1&rel=0
    
    
• Putting it to Use
  • Save as a PDF
  • Save as a Text file that can open in Microsoft Word
  • Save directly to your Google account to edit and publish.
• PebbleGo and PebbleGO Next with Social Studies

This year all elementary schools in our district have access to both PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next. PebbleGo is better suited to lower elementary while PebbleGo Next is better suited to upper elementary. While they may be designed with a specific age group in mind, they are not exclusive to those grades. Feel free to access both with your class this year.

If you do not know your school's shared username and password, please see your Media Specialist or contact your Technology Integration Coach.

Topics	Animals Science Biographies Social Studies	U.S. Regions Cultural Areas
Subtopics	Examples, but not complete list below... Each major class of animals such as Amphibians Dinosaurs Animal Habitats Earth and Space Sciences Physical Sciences Life Sciences Authors and Artists Explorers Inventors and Business Leaders Scientists Long Ago and Today My Government Culture and Awareness	In U.S. Regions, the subtopics are each state's specific information such as.... Location Geography Weather State Symbol Fast Facts Landmarks People Video Recipe Song In the Cultural Areas, the subtopics are for each Native American tribe, including... *
Media	Video clips and images are available to make the information come to life.	Video clips, images, maps, interactive timelines, songs, and recipes are available.
Student Help	The text can be read aloud to students by clicking a button. Citations of the Articles can be printed. The articles and images can be printed. Activities that go along with the content can be printed.	The text can be read aloud to students by clicking a button.

• Accessing Your Google Apps for Education Account for CMCSS
  • Teachers and students in CMCSS now have access Google Accounts for school use in a protected section of Google called Google Apps for Education. Logging into http://www.google.com from any device while using your CMCSS Google login information will get you to it.
  • Teachers will need to use your CMCSS email address as the username. The teacher password was set as a temporary password. Teachers changed to a password of their choosing when they logged into Google Apps for the first time. (If you do not know your password or if you are a CMCSS teacher and do not have an account, contact your technology integration coach to get assistance.)
  • Students use their first name, ".", last name, last 3 numbers of their lunch number, and "@cmcss.net" as their username. Students use their capitalized first initial, capitalized last initial, and last 4 number of their Student PIN.
    • Teachers can access 2 reports in PowerTeacher that contain the information they need.
    1. Go to where attendance is taken.
    2. Look to the far right to see a Printer icon beside the Backpack icon.
    3. Click the Printer icon.
    4. On the reports page, click the drop-down menu that says "Class Attendance Audit".
    5. Choose the report for "Student Email" to find the combination used for first name, ".", last name and last 3 of lunch number. (Only 20 characters maximum were used. If a student's names were longer, it will cut off part of the last name. This report has the correct half of their Google login.)
    6. Generate the report.
    7. In the next window, click "View" on the right side.
    8. Repeat with the "Student PIN" report for the information needed for their password.
• Updating Your CMCSS Signature Already in Your Email
  • If you are looking to update your email signature, there may be 2 places it is kept – the Outlook program in your dock and the website, http://owa.cmcss.net .
    
    For updating your email signature on the program on a Mac
    1. Open the Outlook program.
    2. Click on the OUTLOOK menu at the top of the screen by the Apple menu.
    3. Click PREFERENCES from the Outlook menu.
    4. In the window that opens, click the SIGNATURE tab (2nd row, 3rd icon from left.)
    5. Click on the name of the signature you used. (For some, it is called “Standard”. For others, there may be one labeled with your name.
    6. Highlight/Edit the part you need to alter.
    7. Close the signature window to save the changes.
    For updating your email signature online at http://owa.cmcss.net
    1. Go to your teacher email either through CMCSS link under "Faculty & Staff” or directly by going to http://owa.cmcss.net .
    2. Login with your email username and password.
    3. On the far right at the top, click the link for “Options”.
    4. In the drop-down, click “See all options…”
    5. In the next screen, click “Settings” from the far left of the window.
    6. The signature is in the top left portion of the window. Type what you need to add or change.
    7. Click the SAVE button in the bottom right corner of the window.
    8. To return to your online mail and calendar, click “My Mail” from the top right portion of the window.

• New Projectors with HDMI in CMCSS - The new school, Oakland Elementary, and any teachers that need a projector replaced are getting an upgrade. The new projectors and document cameras use HDMI inputs. For years, flat panel TVs in homes have used the same inputs, but now our school equipment will too.
  • This change affects several things about how we use them.
    • Teachers need an different adapter to allow them to connect to the HDMI cable. Mac users had a VGA adapter, now they need an HDMI adapter. PC users may have an HDMI port in their computer so they might not need one.
    • They will have Blu-Ray players instead of DVD/VCR combos. It will play DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, but VCR tapes will not work.
    • There is a small switch box that switches between the document camera, laptop, and blu-ray player.
    • The "AV Mute" button on the projector not only hides the picture, but also mutes the sound.
    • Teachers who would switch to their document camera or Blu-Ray player, but want to share audio from their computer cannot. When it switches from the laptop, the sound is also switched. This has caused some frustration for teachers. Many would play sound, such as a quiet instrumental piece of music, from their laptop while students worked from a writing prompt displayed through the document camera. There is a work around.

For teachers who want to still have their sound from their computer while showing something else, there is an improvised solution. Your teacher laptop has a headphone port. Your teacher microphone has an AUX port, even the older ones. You just need an AUX cord, one with a headphone jack on both ends, to connect the laptop and the 2nd teacher microphone, then turn on the teacher microphone.






If you don't have an AUX cord, they can be bought for less than $5 anywhere that has electronics. Many people use AUX cords to connect their smartphone directly to their car stereo.


If you do not have time or extra funds to purchase one, you are still in luck. In CMCSS, there is a small cardboard box of extra cords that is left over from installing the document camera, projector, and other equipment. It is roughly the size of the projector. It is often located in the teacher cart that holds the document camera.


Below are the directions for creating and using the homemade AUX cord from your spare cables in the cardboard box.

Directions	Pictures
1. Locate the cardboard box with spare cables. Open the plastic bags to find the ones pictured in front of the box in the picture to the right. The first is a standard Composite cable with red, white, and yellow connectors. The other two are 1/8" headphone jack to female audio connectors. They will most likely be in separate bags.
2. Thankfully, the cables are color-coded. Connect the red-to-red and white-to-white on one end of the cable, then repeat with the other end.
It will look like this when connected.
3. Locate the headphone port on your laptop.
4. Plug one of the 1/8" jacks into the headphone port.
5.Find either "AUX" or "INPUT" on the side of the microphone. The older microphones have a black plug beside the word "AUX" that will need to be removed. The newer microphones just have a hole for the INPUT.	Older microphone with plug covering AUX port on the left side Newer microphone with INPUT on right side.
6. Turn on the microphone, adjust the computer's and microphone's volume, and play the sound through the speakers.

Lessons

Recent

• 4th Grade - Google Classroom:Question and Assignment - Rdg/SS: Students respond to question comparing the theme to main idea, then read other students responses to facilitate class discussion; Students also opened their own copy of a document over the 13 colonies and responded to 2 questions before turning it in.
• 4th Grade - Google Classroom:Question - Students responded to questions embedded in classroom discussion about the reading selection, "Owl Moon". They read others' responses and compared through class discussion. The teacher added comments to their responses for guidance.
• 5th Grade - Google Classroom:Assignment - Students opened a copy of a document that was a mini constructed response question with background text and images created by the classroom teacher. They typed a response and turned in the completed work for the teacher to grade.

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PreK


Kindergarten


1st Grade


2nd Grade


3rd Grade

• 3rd Grade - Shadow Puppet Edu app on iPads - RLA^[1] : Sequencing and recording their fluent reading of a personal narrative they wrote. The student also selected images to show while their audio recording is playing and emailed the finished work to their teacher.

4th Grade

• 4th Grade - Google Apps for Education - Google Classroom - Science: Close Reading in Science Content - Students logged into their teacher's Google Classroom, then read an article from the web. They used the highlight feature for mark text evidence to questions asked following the article. They added comments to the article to tell how that evidence supported their answers. Finally, they turned in their work digitally to the teacher.

5th Grade

• 5th Grade - Office 365 Student Email/Microsoft OneNote Class Notebook - RLA: Writing a friendly letter as an email/Intro to their class's shared online writing journal with private and collaborative areas

Special Areas

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   1. SL.3.5 Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.